More and more foreign direct investment (FDI) projects have been licensed in recent years. Some slow projects have not been seen their licensed revoked, but have received firm warnings from local authorities.

Analysts all have commented that FDI attraction in Vietnam has entered a new period which witnesses basic changes in the way of approaching the important capital channel. Local authorities now say “no” to labor intensive projects or the ones that may cause environment pollution. Meanwhile, slow paced projects have been taken back in order to give the opportunities to others.

Local authorities have shown their strong determination to eliminate the FDI projects, which have been going slowly, to implement the Instruction No. 1617 by the Prime Minister.

“We will instruct Foxconn Group to speed up with the construction of the infrastructure items in the Van Trung Industrial Zone. If the investor does not implement the project, we will revoke the investment license,” Trinh Huu Thang, Director of the Bac Giang provincial Planning and Investment Department.

While a factory of Foxconn in Bac Ninh province has become operational, its project in Bac Giang province has not made any further step.

The Bac Giang provincial authorities have become firm with Foxconn after the Taiwanese investor ignored the “ultimatum” conveyed by the province. Thang said that the local authorities are ready to help investors speed up their projects, but will not make concessions to the investors who do not implement the projects.

The Hai Phong City People’s Committee on March 20 released the Directive on enhancing the performance and correcting the management over FDI projects. The city’s Planning and Investment has been requested to check big FDI projects, which use large land areas and deal with slow paced projects. Especially, the city’s leaders have asked to build up a cooperation mechanism among relevant ministries to examine projects, grant projects and revoke projects, which must be submitted to the city’s people’s committee in April 2012.

Nguyen Van Dung, Deputy Director of the Binh Dinh provincial Planning and Investment, has said on Dau tu that incapable investors should leave the market to give place to more capable investors.

In 2011, Binh Dinh revoked the licenses granted before to four projects. One project was eliminated in Phu Yen province, and 12 in Bac Giang. The central province of Quang Nam asked the investors of 8 FDI projects with the registered investment capital of 104.7 million dollars leave the province. Even Cao Bang, the province which has attracted only nine FDI projects capitalized at 28 million dollars due to the disadvantageous geographical position, has also revoked three licenses totaling 7 million dollars.

The list of the FDI projects to have licenses revoked would lengthen. In 2011, Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial authorities announced their intention to revoke some FDI projects, while the procedures would be fulfilled this year. The province has also decided to revoke the license granted to the 1.3 billion dollar The gioi ky dieu Park project (Wonderful world) registered by the US Good Choice group

In 2011, Binh Phuoc province found out six projects which went slowly and planned to eliminate one project in 2012. Meanwhile, the Quang Nam provincial authorities have discovered a lot of projects which had been going slowly because of the delay in the site clearance period or the lack of capital.

Tran Van Tri, Director of the Quang Nam provincial Investment and Planning Department, has said that the projects which meet difficulties in site clearance because they need too much land would be revoked. Meanwhile, tourism projects’ investors have asked to make a deposit for their projects or regularly organize meetings with local authorities to settle problems.

Dien dan doanh nghiep has quoted Dr Nguyen Mai, former Deputy Chair of the State Committee for Cooperation and Investment, as saying that it’s now the right time to take actions to make investment environment healthier.